INFORMATION TO USERS This dissertation was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently tacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)''. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog * number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. University Microfilms 3Q0 North Zaeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 4B106 A Xerox Education Company 73-11,585 SUTHERLAND, Anthony Xavier, 1944- JOZEF TISO AND MODERN SLOVAKIA. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1972 History, modern University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan © 1973 ANTHONY XAVIER SUTHERLAND ALL RIGHTS RESERVED J02EF TISO AND MODERN SLOVAKIA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Anthony Xavier Sutherland, B.A.,M.A. The Ohio State University 1972 Approved hy Adviser G Department of History PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank Dr. Carole Rogel of The Ohio State University under whose guidance this paper was written. I also wish to thank The Ohio State University, Department of History which provided me with a travel grant and the Graduate School of The Ohio State University for the Dissertation Fellowship which enabled me to complete the research for this project, A special word of thanks goes to*Dr. Milan Durica of the University of Padua and Frantisek Vnuk of Australia who guided much of the early research. I want to extend my appreciation to Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum for the use of his private library, to Rev, Andrew Pier, Director of the Slovak Institute who loaned me many books, to Dr. Jozef Pauco for the use of his library, and to Dr. Karol Murin, Dr, Frano Tiso, Dr, Jozef Mikus, and Dr. Jorg Hoensch who answered my many questions. VITA August 15» 1944. , . Born - Suffern, New York June, 1 9 6 6. B.A., St, Vincent College Latrobe, Pennsylvania I966-I9 6 8, ...... Teaching Assistant, Department of History, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania August, 1968 , . , . , M.A. Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1968-1971 . Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State Univer­ sity, Columbus, Ohio 1971-1972 . Dissertation Fellowship, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY East Central Europe. Professor Carole Rogel Twentieth Century Europe. Professor Andreas Dorpalen Russian History. Professor Michael Curran Modern Chinese History. Professor Samuel Chu TABLE OP CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................ ii VITA ..........., ................................ iii INTRODUCTION .................................. 1 Chapter I. THE SLOVAK POLITICAL TRADITION. ..... 4 II. THE FORMATIVE YEARS AND EARLY POLITICAL CAREER (TO 1929).......... 39 III. THE STRUGGLE FOR AUTONOMY ........... 62 IV. FROM AUTONOMY TO INDEPENDENCE (1938-1939).......................... 106 V. HEAD OF THE SLOVAK STATE (1939-19^5). • 1^9 VI. IDEOLOGIST OF THE STATE .............. 200 CONCLUSIONS....................................... 234 APPENDIX A ............................................... 239 B ......... 2^7 C ............................................... 2^9 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................. 252 INTRODUCTION April 18, 1972 marked the 25th anniversary of the execution of Jozef Tiso, leader of the Slovak Peoples* Party and president of the wartime Slovak Republic (1939-19^5)• His execution by the National Tribunal followed one of the most debated trials in all Slovak history. Opened December 2, 19^6, it ended March 19» 19^7 with Tiso's conviction for treason for his partici­ pation in the collapse of the inter-war Czechoslovak Republic and for crimes against the people of Slovakia, especially his suppression of the Slovak Uprising of 19^. Jozef Tiso remains, however, one of the key person­ alities in modern Slovak history. Born near the end of the 19th century and ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1910, Tiso entered political life through the Slovak Populist Party in 1918-1919 during the first months of the Czechoslovak Republic, He rose rapidly in the party, becoming first a party vice-president and then, after 1938, successor to Andrej Hlinka and leader of the party. 1 2 During most of the interwar period, he served as a deputy for the party in the Prague Parliament, and in the 1930's was the party's leading ideologist. In 1938 after the advent of Slovak autonomy, Tiso became Prime Minister of the first Slovak government. After the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939$ he was elected president of the separate Slovak state. Tiso's importance, however, lies not only in his role as political leader, but also because he was a self- proclaimed interpreter of the Slovak national ideology. To many Tiso became a symbol of the Slovak nation itself for he headed the first independent Slovak state in historyi Tiso was very much conscious of Slovak history and made regular references to Slovak national tradition v t and former Slovak leaders like Stur, Daxner, Kuzmany, Moyses and Hlinka, men with whose work he felt con­ tinuity, Jozef Tiso is the single most controversial figure in modern Slovak history. To some he was a martyr, the greatest Slovak of the century and leader of the nation's destiny through the most glorious period in its history. To others he was a traitor who helped in the destruction of the Czechoslovak Republic, a quisling who for five years obediently served the interests of Nazi Germany. Yet, there have been few individuals in the history of the Slovak nation or of any nation that have been more neglected by historians than Jozef Tiso. No scholarly account of his life has appeared since his death in 19^7. Only one study, Po Svatoplukovi druha nasa hlava. has been published by the noted Slovak pub- v ^ licist, Konstantin Culen, but half of this book, unfor­ tunately, dealt with Tiso's trial; furthermore the work was written with a very pronounced anti-Czech and anti- Protestant bias. There have been a few short monographs on Tiso published - one Dr. Joseph Tiso by Prantisek Vnuk, and another by Milan Durica, Die slowakische Politik 1938/39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tisos. - but other than these virtually nothing has been written. Even Marxist historians in Czechoslovakia have for the past twenty-five years cautiously avoided a study of Tiso, though several works have appeared on Slovak Populists and various aspects of the Slovak Republic, but in these Tiso has been given little attention. There is a need now for an objective examination of Jozef Tiso both as a political leader and as a major ideologist of the Slovak nation. It is hoped that this study will open the door to a better understanding of the life and work of one of the most important Slovak per­ sonalities. CHAPTER I THE SLOVAK POLITICAL TRADITION The Slovak Populist movement was the most impor­ tant political and ideological force in modern Slovak history, Organized in the late 19th century, it became the foremost bearer of Slovak nationalism and defender of Slovak national rights in the 20th century. In the years before 1918 it led the struggle against Magyari- zation and during the period of the Czechoslovak Repub­ lic fought Czech centralism and the idea of a united Czechoslovak nation. Its national ideology was deeply rooted in the Slovak past and based on the premise that the Slovak people had always formed a distinct nation, characterized by a unique language and having just claim to a precise geographic territory. Although no Slovak political ideology existed before the 19th century, the historical assumptions for a national ideology and for the Populist movement revert back to the Middle Ages - to the time of the Kingdom of Great Moravia, Great Moravia was the first 5 known Slavic political unit which included the area that later became Slovakia.^ Centered in Nitra, Slovakia, it included at its height most of the territory of present day Czechoslovakia, and lasted until the early 10th century when it finally fell to the invading Magyars. Although there was no real link between Great Moravia and modern Slovakia, the existence of a Great Moravia has played an important role in the development of a political ideology. Many Slovaks during the national awakening of the 19th century came to regard Great Moravia as the first Slovak state. In their writings they glorified its history and the exploits of its rulers.